CIA Director’s affair caught by FBI e-mail monitoring

The extramarital affair between CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus and his biographer Paula Broadwell was exposed as the result of FBI e-mail monitoring of Broadwell after she sent "threatening and harassing" messages to another woman. The Washington Post reports that the months-long investigation's discovery of explicit, sexually charged emails from Petraeus' personal e-mail account to Broadwell led directly to Petraeus' resignation.

The unnamed woman, which the Washington Post says did not work at the CIA and was not Petraeus' wife, had asked the FBI to look into the threatening e-mails from Broadwell. FBI investigators then used the bureau's electronic monitoring capability, (as described in depth in Ars' analysis of the FBI's electronic monitoring of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan), to intercept emails to and from Broadwell's account.

During the course of the investigation, federal agents monitoring Broadwell's e-mails found messages coming from Petraeus' personal Gmail account, and were concerned that his account had been hacked, "leading to concerns about potential national security breaches," according to officials interviewed by the Post. But after collecting more evidence, the FBI realized it had uncovered an affair between Petraeus and Broadwell. The agency later decided that Broadwell's e-mails to the unnamed woman were "'threatening and harassing' but not specific enough to warrant criminal charges."

The saddest thing is, the media will pick apart the juicy sordid details of the affair and its impact on the Obama administration because it appeals to Honey Boo Boo low brows, but no one will cast a second glance at the sickening implications that this really has on privacy. When the machine's own operator has lost control of it, you know that it's time to shut it down and fix it.

Would this be the case for other people apart from Perseus? It didn't seem to stop Clinton, just distract him for a while.

Because having an affair, or more correctly failing to disclose the fact can be reason enough to revoke a security clearance, and without said clearance he can't be the head of the CIA. Second, he resigned, he was not fired. He himself though that his actions were unbecoming for a person in his position

Would this be the case for other people apart from Perseus? It didn't seem to stop Clinton, just distract him for a while.

Generally, anyone in an an undisclosed affair is placing themselves at risk for extortion. This is exactly the sort of leverage someone would want if they were looking to take advantage of him.

He was fired not because of the affair - the power of an extortionist threat is now moot - but because he showed poor enough judgement to put himself in such a position. There are a handful of keyholders to the secrets of the State for which such an affair is a no-no (and the Presidency is not one of them).

Nobody cares if this guy was known to be a womanizer with anything in a skirt. A hidden relationship, however, is grounds for removal.

I guess as tight as you keep your own email security, you always have to worry about the other guy. Earlier stories on other sites alluded to the fact that his Gmail account was being monitored, but they were just checking on incoming emails from his account. Oops.

Would this be the case for other people apart from Perseus? It didn't seem to stop Clinton, just distract him for a while.

It is an action unbecoming of an officer! He is our highest officer in many years. If he can get away with it, then all dishonorably discharged in the past over having affairs should be pardoned.

If Petraeus can get away with it then it further lowers the standards and conduct of all our officers. Just cut it down another notch! Their used to be a clause about being a gentleman to serve as an officer of our armed forces!

I look forward to this story being the inspiration for a conspiracy in a new spy movie. Plot synopsis: FBI invents sordid e-mails to blackmail CIA director, director resigns to hide something bigger. Hilarity ensues.

I may have been speaking from my butt in comments above. Probably so. Petraeus may have been honorably discharged from the military before assuming his position as Director of the CIA. I do not know. But if so, that would relieve him from the codes of military conduct.

Sounds like Petraeus has been popping many women through his illustrious career. His wife, the sexy biographer, and at least one other lady that pissed the biographer off! Maybe one of them is a Russian spy?

Sounds like he should have a dishonorable discharge for actions unbecoming of an officer? No pensions or anything else! No possession of firearms anymore! Yep, good example, the highest falls to the lowest!

I love it when lawyers, state, and Washington elites get caught up in the self righteous laws they write and have to suffer the same consequences as they make the rest of us suffer!

Obviously Petraeus has been popping many women throughout his career. I find it hard to believe this has started just now!

Absolute power corrupts absolutely!

Edit: Meant to mention the Patriot Act! Kind of ironic that even the CIA directer succumbs to it! If him, then we are all on the hook!

Edit: Petraeus vs. Patraeus (even if it is spelled wrong all over the web)

Dude, he doesn't write laws...like at all...and really!? Guy has an affair, guy should loose his entire life's work ( pension included?)...its so easy to strip others of their wealth when you aren't the one being stripped of your own...

Congrats, your post gets a solid:X, were X is sum-number-approaching-negative-infinity-very-rapidly

Anyone else a little concerned that the FBI's search started with a random, unrelated person and ended up snooping emails of Patreaus? I mean, what are the odds that an investigation of a complaint about email harassment by some currently-unnamed-woman triggers and FBI investigation into another woman and then have that investigation lead to an ousting of a sitting CIA director?

Anyone else a little concerned that the FBI's search started with a random, unrelated person and ended up snooping emails of Patreaus? I mean, what are the odds that an investigation of a complaint about email harassment by some currently-unnamed-woman triggers and FBI investigation into another woman and then have that investigation lead to an ousting of a sitting CIA director?

Why is the FBI even involved in this case to begin with?

You can't make that shit up....

I always said Google is the NSA! Maybe Facebook too! Microsoft Live? The whole cloud thing? You got to wonder. So many people just voluntarily feeding their whole life history into social networks for others to monitor. What could be better for a spy agency? If I was China I would be all over this stuff. Just saying!

It's likely a sacking affair because it would, once discovered, trigger some sort of re-appraisal of one's security clearance at the very least. The CIA's director shouldn't be going through that.

Why would this trigger a loss of security clearance? Is there some documentation you can point to?

It wouldn't automatically mean loss of a clearance. But it would lead to a review of his clearance, which would determine the potential risk of blackmail or undue influence, the potential damage from any blackmail (in this case pretty high since he was head of the CIA), and weigh all that against the benefits of keeping him in the job.

And for all of you screaming about unwarranted wiretaps, we don't know that yet. The Ars article says that a woman reported harassment by Broadwell to the FBI. It is probable that they got a warrant to tap Broadwell's email, and that's how the found out about it. There is no report that they were monitoring Petraeus' email - they just saw email from his account going to Broadwell.

Would this be the case for other people apart from Perseus? It didn't seem to stop Clinton, just distract him for a while.

It is an action unbecoming of an officer! He is our highest officer in many years. If he can get away with it, then all dishonorably discharged in the past over having affairs should be pardoned.

If Petraeus can get away with it then it further lowers the standards and conduct of all our officers. Just cut it down another notch! Their used to be a clause about being a gentleman to serve as an officer of our armed forces!

That is General Petraeus (Ret)While it is normal for Generals to expect reactivation after retirement, I somehow doubt that this general can expect to return to active service anytime soon

Would this be the case for other people apart from Perseus? It didn't seem to stop Clinton, just distract him for a while.

Potentially embarrassing situations create the opportunity for blackmail. As the CIA Director, setting himself up for potential blackmail presented a "minor" security issue. Old indiscretions (should there be any) that were not revealed during the review of his security clearance would also be considered potential security flaws.

The FBI was worried that GMail was being used for classified information?!?!?

Quote:

...and were concerned that his account had been hacked, "leading to concerns about potential national security breaches

More like: "The FBI was worried a hacker using Petraeus' personal Gmail account and posing as Petraeus would try to use it to solicit classified information."

I would like to believe that to be an unlikely means of obtaining classified info, but there have been so many stories involving government (mis)handling of confidential material in just the last few years.